Two former Parramatta Eels players are accused of harbouring semi-automatic weapons and possessing more than half-a-million dollars in cash after dramatic arrests in Sydney's Centennial Park yesterday.

Man jailed for 16 years over savage attack

Sidney Brady was an independent 89-year-old man until he was savagely beaten in a senseless attack during a home invasion, a Perth court has been told.

Since the horrifying ordeal in October 2011, the elderly man spent two months in hospital, swapped his walking stick for a frame and now lives under the full-time care of his daughter and son-in-law.

His attacker, 32-year-old Allan Ronald James Poland, was sentenced in the West Australian District Court on Friday to 16 years and four months in prison after being convicted earlier this year by a jury.

There is also a lifetime restraining order placed against him so he cannot contact his victim, who is now aged 91.

Members of Mr Brady's family wept in court as details of the crime were explained.

The court heard Mr Brady was dog-sitting his daughter's sick pet while she and her husband went out for the evening when he was attacked in the couple's home.

In sentencing, Judge Troy Sweeney said it was a sustained beating probably involving at least two weapons that caused bruising, swelling and bleeding all over Mr Brady's body.